The following responses were received in response to the article published in the last edition of Cranes & Access which reported on the long term efforts to make wind turbine installation lifting safer.
Dear Sir,
I read this with interest having been involved in turbine erecting, albeit in a smaller role as a tailing crane for the tower sections and the tandem lifting of blades off of transport and onto a lay down area. What surprised me about this article is that the people in the conference were shocked into silence. I only have a rudimentary understanding of physics due to only having an O level in it, academically wise, but basic physics, and to me common sense, means that this stands to reason! I’ve lifted concrete fascia slabs that have a similar surface area to fire panels for houses - the drag effect, of course, is far greater on this than the concrete therefore the likelihood of the load shifting outside of the safe working envelope of the crane and leading to an accident is greater - this is just basic stuff of crane operating. Maybe I’m assuming too much because I’ve experienced it personally as an operator and perhaps, therein lies the problem - the crane industry, certainly in the UK, is populated by a lot of people who have only a theoretical knowledge or worse still, none whatsoever but have jobs because they are sales people - who have no practical experience of the service they are selling. Experience counts for a lot!
Steven Schmalenbach Crane operator
Dear Sir, Very very interesting and the heavy lifting industry needs to take on board the importance of sharing critical safety information
Andy Tymon Lifting Engineer
Adapting and keeping going
Greetings Leigh, Snow and freezing cold has gripped our region of Arkansas, USA for three weeks or better. However, I’m still an avid dedicated follower of your mission in the lifting industry. I turned 80 last November and had a good business year in 2020 until November. That is normally a slow time for tree services, but it stopped the first week of November. I still own a 2003 Niftylift TM40 and it runs very well. If my crystal ball weren’t cracked and clouded, I’d announce I am prepared for another good year, my 31st in tree care. In November I saw the dead time as perfect timing renew my business of spinning tops or spinners in the UK. I hopped on the planning mode to develop my 10th workshop the smallest ever at 6 x 8ft. It is about 80% done and with this cold weather we have, I am driving myself to complete the setup and turn on the lathe. My blog site - www.shermanstops.com - will soon have spinners for sale, and I hope to learn how to make and spin whip tops which have been popular in the British Isles. Praying your good health and success this year,
Sherm Anderson treetopguy2028@yahoo.com Beelinewarner589@gmail.com
